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Summer Beer Taste on Phinney Ridge

This past Saturday was the Phinney Neighborhood Association beer tasting. I must say it was quite civilized compared to some beer tastings I’ve been to. I remember the first beer tasting I ever went to, I went expecting it to be something like a wine tasting. You know, you go around the room, talk to the vintner/brewer and try their stuff. It ended up being llike a some bad version of a college frat party, where you’re pushing and shoving to get a beer, only to finally get up to the tap and find out that they just kicked the keg. I’m happy to say, the Phinney event is nothing like that
It was one of the hotest days of the year and the upstairs of the Phinney Neighborhood center was a little toasty, but the many IPA’s, Summer Ales, Pilsners and Hefeweizens made it very bearable. The Barking Dog provided an excellent Lobster Bisque and there was a band that consisted of a couple fiddles, a big stand up base and squeeze box. The building is an old restored elementary school overlooking Greenlake, so I felt like I was stepping back in time to a high school dance, only there was tons of beer readily available!

There were 16 breweries represented with my favorites being the Diamond Knot Industrial IPA on cask. Even though it was hot, this one was very refreshing. I was also excited to try the Walking Man Homo-Erectus Imperial IPA. This brewery is way down along the Columbia River, so it’s not every day I get to drink their imperial IPA. I should also mention Lazy Boy’s Hefeweizen and IPA, both were very nice from this new brewery.

Those are the one’s that really stood out. I actually only tasted one that I really did not like, mostly because I’m not a big fan of fruit in my beer. Walking back from the event my neighbor Al and I stopped at Snow Goose for one last beer. After all of those micro brews, we ordered a Pabst Blue Ribbon….refreshing!